Lab Lock in
by backstagespotlight
Summary: When an electrical short forces the CSI lab into lockdown will secrets spill? DL Fiesta and MacPeyton. I own nothing this is just for fun.
1. Chapter 1

Danny Messer looked up from his work when the alarms went off. _The containment alarms_, he thought, _Where's__ Lindsay?_ Unbeknownst to the team, he and his country girl had tied the knot three weeks ago in Montana, where they had been helping to solve a serial murder investigation. As if his very thoughts had summoned her, Lindsay appeared in the doorway.

"What did you do this time, Messer?" she asked, trying to alleviate some of the tension they had each felt. Danny chuckled.

"Shouldn't it be me asking you that question, Montana?" he drawled. She crossed over to his side and he pulled her into a comforting hug. She latched onto him for a moment, before turning to follow him to Mac's office.

In the supervisor's office, Danny and Lindsay found Mac talking on the phone with the rest of their team gathered, waiting anxiously for news.

"Thank you," he said, hanging up the phone. The team waited with baited breath as Mac collected his thoughts.

"The good news is that it's just an electrical short, so we're not in any immediate danger. There is, however, a problem with the mechanism which has caused the building to seal itself and not allow us out. Tech is working on it, but it will be at least morning before we get out of here." Danny and Lindsay let out identical groans of frustration. They had reservations at an exclusive restaurant for that night. While the team seemed suspicious , they too were disappointed and didn't think too much of it.

--

Sleeping arrangements were made for the whole lab, so living bodies were draped everywhere. Lindsay and Stella had claimed Mac's office and now Lindsay was regretting it. A strong summer thunderstorm had settled in over the city and was currently bombarding the building. Lindsay's Midwestern upbringing had instilled her with a pathological fear of storms that she found hard to shake, even as an adult. After a time, she gave up trying to sleep and sought out a quieter place more toward the center of the building, away from the outward facing windows of Mac's office. She eventually settled on the office she shared with Danny, as it was the most central. She tiptoed around a snoring Flack and settled into her office chair, pulling her Mp3 player from her desk drawer.

"Montana," she heard Danny whisper, "Can't sleep?" Lindsay looked over to see her husband sprawled on their office floor, propped up on one arm.

"Storm," was all she had to say. Danny was off the floor and at her side in a mere second, pulling her into his arms. Lindsay rested against her husband, finding comfort in his strength. He pulled her back to the floor where he unzipped the sleeping bag so it would fit both of them.

"Wait here," he ordered. He left the office and returned a few minutes later with Lindsay's sleeping bag and pillow. He handed her the pillow and unzipped the sleeping bag to cover them both. It wasn't the comfortable bed they'd had in mind, but at least post-9-11 preparedness had made it bearable.

"Danny, what about Flack?"

"Shh, forget Flack, forget Stella and Mac and Peyton and Adam," Danny whispered against Lindsay's hair. "You need to sleep." Lindsay murmured her agreement as her head came to rest on his chest. Moments later, she was soundly sleeping. Danny followed not long after, sleeping more soundly than before with his Montana in his arms.

--

Stella woke and stretched out, reveling in the bright morning sunlight. She was surprised that not a trace remained of her roommate. Stella saw signs of life in the lab and decided to rise as well. She rolled up her sleeping bag and left the room.

Most of those who were awake were lab techs, not the CSI's who had responded to a 3 am call the night before. Stella thought she saw Mac and Peyton head into the break room, but couldn't be sure. She passed Danny and Lindsay's office and laughed at the sight of Flack trying to escape the sleeping bag tangled around his feet.

"It's not funny, Bonasera," Flack exclaimed. Stella just watched as he finally pulled himself free of the bag.

"Come on, let's go find some coffee," she said. Flack shook his head.

"Not before you see this," he insisted. Stella stepped into the room and smiled as she recognized the sleeping form of her missing roommate.

"Wonder when this happened," she muttered.

"That's the thing," Flack said, "from what I overheard last night, I'm not sure it has. You know Lindsay's afraid of thunderstorms, and last night's was a doozy."

"So you're saying this was a way to get her to calm down?" Stella asked. Flack shrugged.

"Let's go find that coffee."


	2. Chapter 2

Flack and Stella entered the break room and found it buzzing with activity. Lab techs and CSI's mingled with the few detectives unlucky enough to have been in the building at the time of the short. Mac and Peyton were just finishing their coffee preparations and Mac handed the pot off to Flack. The detective poured two mugs, handing one to Stella after doctoring it the way he knew she drank it. His kind gestured surprised her, but she accepted it gratefully.

Danny and Lindsay stumbled into the room a short time later and made their way to the coffee as well. Inspection of the cupboards led to the discovery that there was only one mug left. Danny filled it and handed it to Lindsay. She added only one sugar and a tiny dab of cream. Taking a sip she couldn't hide her grimace at its bitter taste. Danny chuckled and leaned over to whisper something in her ear. She laughed a little and added more cream and sugar. She took another sip, then handed the cup to Danny. They took a seat in a secluded corner of the break room and waited for Mac's update.

"Tech services contacted me this morning," the supervisor began, "The electrical short did more damage to the building's wiring than was initially predicted, but they should have us out of here by noon today." Groans sounded from around the room. Mac raised his hand for quiet.

"As for the workday, there are plenty of cold cases. Run DNA through CODIS and prints through AFIS. Try to set up appointments to meet with possible suspects. Flack noticed that the Messer-Monroe coffee mug was resting safely in Lindsay's hands, and she was enjoying it immensely. Flack watched as she offered it to Danny again, then laughed at the face he made.

"Get to it," Mac said, "I'll work on seeing what we can do for food." The crowd slowly left the room, but Danny and Lindsay stayed behind to let the rush end.

Flack approached with his refilled cup of coffee and extended it to Danny, who accepted gratefully.

"I can't stand all the sugar Montana puts in hers," he muttered. Lindsay just smiled sweetly at him, sticking her tongue out for a brief moment. Danny wrinkled his nose and shook his head at her.

"Alright, Messer, enough flirting with Lindsay," Stella said, "get to work."

"Yes, ma'am," Danny said, saluting Stella. He stood and headed for his office. Lindsay followed a short distance behind. Flack and Stella watched them leave, then turned to each other. Their eyes met for a moment and their eyes asked the same question. Each nodded. There was no way those two were not together. Now to catch them in the act.


	3. Chapter 3

Danny heard Lindsay sigh across the room.

"Something wrong, Mrs. Messer?" he asked. Lindsay shot him a look and a half smile.

"I just feel grungy. I've been in these same clothes since three yesterday morning," she said. He sidled up beside her and began taking over the evidence she was processing.

"What are you doing Mr. Messer?" she asked playfully. He leaned over and kissed the top of her head.

"What's it look like, Mrs. Messer?" he asked, "I'm taking over so you can go get a shower. If you've got an extra pair of jeans there a button down shirt in my locker. Feel free to steal anything else you find in there." Lindsay gave him a thousand watt smile and a quick peck on the cheek before rushing off to the locker room. Danny smiled a giddy smile as he watched her walk away.

Lindsay met up with Stella in the locker room. The older detective was gathering clothes from her locker and headed in the same general direction as Lindsay. As Lindsay moved to get Danny's shirt, she realized she had no clue what her husband's locker combination was. She shot him a quick text message, then smiled when she saw his reply. Stella immediately caught this, and the fact that her colleague was standing in front of a locker which was not her own.

"A message from someone special?" she asked. Lindsay tried to pretend she didn't hear the question, but Stella persisted. Finally Lindsay shot her a sly smile and said,

"It was a family member." Stella looked shocked and slightly unconvinced, but thankfully let the subject drop. They both showered, but Lindsay finished quickly, getting a good sized head start on Stella to avoid further questioning.

Returning to her office, she found Danny sitting with his feet up, her iPod playing. She plucked one of the earphones out just as he hit the button to switch tracks. The song that was playing was the one he had used to propose. He grinned up at her and hummed along. Then he rose and wrapped his arm around her waist, trying to keep his distance to appear as though he was merely using her as a human reconstruction dummy. He'd done this a time or two before, mostly when he was feeling playful. Lindsay laughed at him as he spun her into his arms. Seeing Flack and Stella approaching, _and walking at a distance much too personal to just be friends_ they both mused, Danny stopped humming and improvised some mumbo-jumbo about a downward stab angle nicking a certain bone or other. He released Lindsay, but his eyes said that the minute they left the lab they'd be dancing for real. She smiled back at him and turned to her work. Stella and Flack stood for a moment and then walked out of the room. They turned a few corners until they found a secluded one. Stella took Flack's hands as he leaned down and kissed her.

"Maybe we're wrong about Danny and Lindsay," he whispered, "Maybe last night really was just a reaction to the storm." He kissed her again, but her green gaze held his with a certain sense of uncertainty mixed with triumph.

"The thing is, Don, I worked that case with Lindsay. And it wasn't a stabbing; it was a drowning."

_AN- I hope that's a nice bit of Fiesta for those of you who've been craving it. I really appreciate the attention y'all have been paying to this story. It makes it fun to write!_


	4. Chapter 4

Mac sat in his office, looking over files and forms that needed his signature. Peyton walked in and he smiled up at her. She settled on his lap and he wrapped his arms around her. Ever since she'd come back from London he'd been willing to do whatever it took to keep her in New York. She kissed him briefly and whispered in his ear. Mac rolled his eyes and shook his head ruefully. He picked up the phone and called his team into his office.

"The lovely Dr. Driscoll here has informed me that they've been able to evacuate the lower floors of the building, but in so doing have blocked us onto this floor. Being as this is the heart of the Crime Lab, we have a few extra security measures, measures which will make it slightly more difficult to release us."

"Wait," Lindsay asked, "Why did you come up, Peyton? And how did you get up if the floor is sealed?" Peyton and Mac exchanged an almost guilty look.

"I, actually, never left this floor today. I was caught up with my work so I took the chance to spend a day with Mac," she admitted, punctuating her statement with a kiss. Lindsay felt Danny's hand tickle her back. She smiled at her husband and touched his knee, a move which did not go unnoticed by Stella. She reached over and tapped Flack with her toe. He studied her green eyes for a moment before following their gaze to the situation, now irrelevant as the touch had been a passing caress. He looked back at Stella with an unconvinced look on his face, at which she imitated Lindsay's action on his knee. The small movement caught both Peyton and Mac's eye and Peyton turned to the supervisor with an I-told-you smirk on her face. To everyone's surprise, the ex-Marine who was infamous for never showing emotion kissed the British medical examiner sweetly. She studied him, her gray-blue eyes tender, then kissed him back. Flack and Stella exchanged a look, as did Lindsay and Danny.

A small smile flashed between husband and wife. They stood, mumbling some excuse about case paperwork and left the room. Stella discreetly turned to watch them. She smiled as she saw Lindsay sneak her hand under the hem of Danny's shirt.

Danny smiled playfully as he led Lindsay down the hallway toward the one place he knew they wouldn't be disturbed, the evidence locker specifically designated for new cases. She pinned him against the wall but he easily reversed their positions without breaking the kiss which had begun the instant the door closed. As Lindsay's hands roved upward, taking his shirt with them, he reluctantly pulled back. Lindsay stared up at him with a confused look in her eyes.

"Are we sure about this, Montana?" Danny asked, running a hand up and down her arm. Lindsay smiled up at him with a confident grin.

"I'm pretty sure about it," she said sweetly, leaning up for a kiss. Danny acquiesced but was careful not to go too far.

"Montana, baby, I love you dearly, but we really can't do this here," he continued to kiss her, his actions contradicting his words. Lindsay felt herself losing control. She slipped her hands under his shirt and pulled it over his head. They heard the door latch jiggle and sprang apart. Lindsay's mind was racing, 

searching for some excuse for them to be in that room alone together and for Danny to have his shirt off. But the door didn't open, so the two CSI's were left breathing heavily.

"Maybe you're right and this isn't such a great idea, Danny," Lindsay admitted. Danny picked up his shirt and pulled it back on. 

"Hate to say I told you so," he taunted cheekily, sweeping in for one last kiss. He left the room, still straightening his shirt. He met Stella's curious gaze with an emotionless expression. In her eyes he detected a challenge. He and Lindsay had always considered Stella the co-worker most likely to discover them. It looked like they might be right.


	5. Chapter 5

Stella watched from two labs over as Danny and Lindsay processed evidence together. Even from this distance she could tell that they were bantering playfully. She heaved a heavy sigh.

"Oh to be a fly on that wall," she muttered mournfully. From behind her came the musical sound of female laughter. Peyton settled into the chair next to Stella.

"They look happy," Peyton said "Not at all stir crazy like you seem to be."

"Yeah, well," Stella huffed, "They're not the ones trying to figure out what's going on between them." Peyton raised an eyebrow at Stella, trying to untangle that messy statement.

"Flack and I have this unspoken bet going as to whether or not Danny and Lindsay are together. Every time I think I've caught them, they come up with some reasonable cover story and we're back to square one. But I'm close to figuring this out. I can feel it." Peyton laughed.

"Well then," Peyton said, "I'm not sure whether this news will be as exciting as I thought it was." She paused for dramatic effect.

"They've unlocked the building, haven't they?" Stella asked, a mixture of joy and disappointment in her voice. Peyton nodded. Stella slammed her evidence down on the tabletop in frustration. Flack chose that moment to enter the room.

"Stell-" he said, "This is good news. We can finally get those drinks you owe me.

"I beg your pardon," Stella said, teasingly angry, "I owe you nothing! They are a couple, I just can't prove it." She then did a very uncharacteristic thing and pouted. Flack shook his head sweetly as he lowered his lips toward hers.

"Well, you have until we leave this building, which is no time at all," he stole a swift kiss before grabbing her wrist and pulling her toward the door. They could hear Peyton laughing as they practically flew toward the exit, Danny and Lindsay not far behind them.

--

Danny and Lindsay stood in the doorway of yet another restaurant with disappointment on their faces. There was simply not a table in town for their postponed date night. Lindsay slipped her hand into his as they walked out into the warm night. She looked absolutely beautiful in her pink sundress and sandals, the very vision of summer. They walked past a doorway, exchanged a look, each shrugged their shoulders and entered.

--

Flack finally got Stella to agree to drinks, but only if they went somewhere new. They decided to choose a place at random by walking down a street and choosing the first place that looked appealing. The sound of soft jazz emanating from the smoky doorway of a place called Cozy's called to them. They stepped inside as the song ended, and were escorted to a table in the center of the room, not exactly 

comfortable for a pair of cops, but neither really minded. Stella took a moment to study the band and gave a small start. Flack noticed it and placed a hand on her shoulder. She nodded toward the bass player and Flack's eyes widened. As Mac finished the song, Stella spotted Peyton sitting at a table very close to the front of the room. Mac stood up and walked over to his girlfriend, extending a hand to her and leading her up to the stage.

"Tonight we have the very special privilege of hearing the vocal talents of Dr. Peyton Driscoll." He gave the nervous M.E. a kiss on the cheek and whispered something in her ear. She smiled at him and the song began.

Halfway through, Flack leaned over to Stella, and asked, "Did you know she sang?" Stella shook her head.

"I didn't even know he played the bass," she replied. The crowd's applause was enthusiastic as the song drew to a close. Calls rang out for an encore. Peyton blushed and declined, but Mac kept her on the stage. He nodded to the other members of the band and the opening strands of a song began to play. This time, it was Mac who was on vocals, his voice deep and raspy, but filled with adoration.

"L is for the way you look at me," he crooned. The song continued, each stanza drawing more tears to Peyton's eyes while simultaneously widening her smile. When he reached the line, "take my heart and please don't break it," he paused his bass playing to slip a hand into his pocket and hold out a ring. Peyton's hands flew to her face and the tears began streaming down her cheeks. She nodded through her tears, throwing her arms around his neck. Mac pulled back long enough to take off his guitar and put the ring on her finger.

The room erupted with cheers. From the back corner of the room came a very distinctive call of "Way to go, Mac!" Stella and Flack turned around to see Danny and Lindsay at the far corner table, Danny's arm around Lindsay's shoulder. She leaned over and whispered something in his ear that earned her a sound kiss on the lips from Danny. Stella's look was a classic 'I-told-you-so.' Flack laughed and kissed Stella's hair. The crime lab group all gathered back at Lindsay and Danny's table for a celebratory drink. They were short a chair, but that didn't bother Mac, who pulled Peyton onto his lap with a grin.

"To the first Crime Lab engagement!" Flack said, raising his glass. Danny and Lindsay exchanged a look and a smile. A smile which did not escape Stella's watchful eye.

"The first Crime Lab marriage?" she asked tentatively. Danny and Lindsay shook their heads and Danny lifted their joined left hands onto the table, not unwrapping his left arm from around Lindsay's body. Everyone laughed and cheered. Danny and Lindsay shared a look and realized that there was more than one thing they were glad was no longer locked in the lab.

THE END

_AN- not sure how I feel about the ending, but it will have to do. It's been fun! CATE_


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